Football players surprise their Georgia coach at his last chemo session. ‘They got me’
Coach Chris Fowler was surprised to see his players off the football field — and, instead, at his last chemotherapy session.
Fowler is the defensive line coach at Jackson County High School in Georgia. He showed up to his final round of chemo with a book called “Breaking Down Your Offensive Opponent” to help him support his players on the field.
He found his team lining the front entry of the hospital holding signs to support him back.
The video posted on the Jackson County football team’s Facebook page shows Fowler notice his players at the entrance, and he turns away to collect himself. As he walks in, he hugs his players one by one, and they show him their signs.
Two players got stuck in traffic and had to run to make it in time.
“They came in hot hurdling a construction barrier to get in before him without being seen,” the post says.
Fowler completed his 12th and final round of treatment for Hodgkin lymphoma, a cancer that starts in white blood cells. He shared his diagnosis in May and began chemotherapy treatment shortly after. When he wrote his announcement, he signed off as Coach Fowler.
As of August, he said a scan showed no active cancer cells, and he continued his treatment through October.
The players managed to surprise him with the help of his wife, Dani, who is also listed as an employee at Jackson County High.
Fowler took to social media to thank his players after the chemo session.
“We have the best, most amazing young men in our program,” Fowler wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Between posting about football, he shared regular updates on his chemo sessions throughout his seven-month journey.
He finished treatments Oct. 20, ahead of the Panthers’ game that night.
“Parents, I hope you are proud of your boys — they are special!!” Fowler wrote. “Love them all. They got me, that’s for sure!”
Dani Fowler celebrated the milestone in an Instagram post as well.
“What a beautiful, emotional day,” she wrote. “I asked coach, ‘how do you feel?’ and his response was pretty perfect. He said, ‘everything.’”
Jackson County High School is in Hoschton, about 50 miles northeast of Atlanta.
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